Hungary’s Orban says sanctions on Russia will ‘destroy’ EU economy

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks during a plenary session at the COP29 UN Climate Summit in Baku, Azerbaijan (Rafiq Maqbool/AP)

The European Union must abandon its policy of sanctioning Russia for its war in Ukraine or risk causing an economic collapse, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has told state radio.

The EU has imposed several rounds of sanctions against Moscow since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, targeting the energy sector, banks, the world’s biggest diamond mining company and other businesses.